NOSFERATUUUUUU - gothic ideas/atmospheres

Okay so we all know 'gothic' tings tend to be scaary. In nosferatu, the idea of there being something to be frightened of is set up near the beginning with the ironic 'don't be afraid', in fact, the audience should be afraaaid, they should be veery afraaid.

Much of the landscape throughout the film is subterraneous, (as it was in the two extracts we looked at for homework). This makes the story more tense, especially when Harker is trying to return to his wife, it is difficult and there are many, I quote, 'obstacles' in his way. This makes the atmosphere all the more dramatic, will he get back to her safely? Will he not? It keeps the whole gothic idea of the 'unknown' alive and thus the tension is also kept alive (or dead, muahahaha).

There is also the idea of dramatic irony. There is the idea of secret knowledge at the beginning when Harker is unaware that dracula or 'nosferatu' is evil, but all the townsfolk know. This dramatic irony is also present when people keep dying and the 'medical world', 'townspeople' and basically everyone, is confuzzled as to why this is happening and come to the conclusion that it must be the plague killing everyone. However, we, the clever ol' audience, know it's really dracula biting people, the cheeky monk. Dramatic irony is also used when the people have 'no idea of the terrible cargo' they're carrying, i.e. draccy boi, but the audience know he's there, in his coffin of earth. Which leads onto my next point about the gothic idea of  being connected to nature in some way, by the fact that the coffins have to be 'earth-filled' for dracula to keep his power. There's also the whole 'vampire of the vegetable kingdom' ting which might link vampires to nature? Maybe? But anyway, there is this whole terror of the 'unknown' which seems to be a recurring gothic theme, no-one knows it's draccy murdering everyone and half the time people don't even know he's there, what with the hiding in the cargo bit in the ship n all, he's a sneaky one that drac.

The idea of being 'forbidden to do something' also crops up a few times, and it also links in with the 'corruption of innocence', e.g. when Nina reads 'The Book of Vampires' even when she has promised not to. Another idea is the idea of 'mind control' or just generally magical/psychic things happening. E.g. Nina and her hubby seem to be 'in tune' as she seems to know he is in danger when she sleep walks. There also seems to be some supernatural psychic connection between Renfield and Dracula, Renfield goes 'out of his mind' and is also aware of when his 'master' arrives at the town. This may show Dracula's magical/supernatural powers and how he may use them to control people.

There may also be the idea of being forceably constrained by society, as Harker has to talk and do business with Dracula even though his senses are telling him he's a creepy other-worldly crazy man. Can you blame him? I mean, drac walks like an absolute creep, what with the massive hunched shoulders and starey eyes and all. Odd man.